Bjorn3D has reviewed the Kingston KHX12800D3LLK3/6GX memory, a 3x2GB triple channel DDR3-1600 memory, when Core i7 was first launched. Back then, DDR3 was selling at such a premium price that upgrading to faster DDR3 costs an arm or a leg. Six month has passed and we are seeing the price of the DDR3 has dropped significantly. The price drop of the DDR3 memory means that the DDR3-1600 is no longer reserved for enthusiasts but has reached to the mainstream prices where it is easily to find a 3x2GB DDR3 1600 as cheap as $95.00.
We decided to pay another visit to the Kingston KHX12800D3LLK3/6GX memory six month after the Core i7 has been on the market. We decided to test the Kingston's HyperX memory for a couple of reasons. First, this memory is rated at 1600MHz with timing of 8-8-8-24 at 1.65v. Some of the cheaper DDR3-1600s have higher timing and those with tighter timing would cost significantly more so this memory strikes the best balance of both the price and performance. In addition, we want to test with DDR3-1600 because if you are into overclocking, having a DDR3-1600 is would sure be beneficial to achieve that maximum overclocking potential. As our tests have suggested, Core i7 can easily be overclocked to 3.6 GHz or higher simply by raising the QPI. With the memory running at 1600MHz with relative tight timing, there should be plenty of headroom to achieve such clockspeed without much issue.